surface tricks are fun and look cool! especially the power slide... if only the spray was a little bigger... i've got a bruise on my left shoulder from falling while trying a half cab 180 (how did that happen?!!)... monday will be a better day =) cant wait, going with Daryl and Sam... gotta remember that the handle's like your girlfriend, dont let her go...

Quotes of the day

I AM EMBARKING ON THE LONG JOURNEY OF REDEMPTION... ITS ONLY JUST THE BEGINING... *small voice replies* with the amount of sins you commit everyday, the journey will just get longer by the hour

Positive Thinking May Not Solve All Your Problems, But It Will Annoy People Enough To Make It Worth The Effort

If you can't impress the judges, just confuse them with your nonsense

bleh..!

i've got 2 exams this afternoon and one tomorrow morning, but on the bright side, tomorrow is the last day of exams for me and i'm probably going sailing on wednesday and might break in the new HYDE radial sail XD... ahh... and perhaps shopping on thursday =)

ta for now!

okay... as of thursday, economics and math will have the opportunity to be thrown out the window by yours truly. i really can't wait =) my new laser radial sail is here, it journeyed for a long time and has finally landed... -hear the sigh of a tired traveller- haha, i've already had econs P1 and 2, math P1 and 2... lets not go into the details, they were BAD, like REAL BAD... i can't wait for sailing to start again! it's been about 6 weeks since i've touched the boat and about 3 weeks since i've been in or near a gym... not good i tell you, not good.

anyway here's the to do list for after the exams
- WAKEBOARDING
- FISHING with the guys... oh.. and fly tying too =)
- learn to DRIVE A CAR
- Cardio and weight Training i feel like a lump of flab right now =(
- Hang out with friends you guys make my life colourful...
- Boat REPAIRS
- go Sailing (this is about as close as i can get to my boat colour i think)
- Spend my time WISELY (perhaps get a job/internship?)
last but not least, EAT CAKE or ICE CREAM :D man, this sweet tooth is going to be the death of me someday... haha...

A message for someone...

hey, i'm glad you pushed yourself hard and did your best at nationals, its been nice sailing with you and i wonder if you'd continue. but anyhow i thought about you over the few days of competition even though you were not racing on 2 of the 4 days. Your best is all that anyone including yourself can ask of you. well done =)

well well... nationals start tomorrow... good luck everyone! the laser fleet for both boys and girls looks deathly competitive! Hope my friends do well =) to her... i've missed u and still miss you... sail well people! =D can't wait to get back into my laser and change the lines... can't wait to jump back in the boat and start feeling good in it again... this season has been gybing mayhem for me... they just feel so jerky and bad... oh well! another thing to work on!

haha... feeling very random... since my computer's died on me i thought i'd keep a record of my msn nick... which is
♣½ÀΩ ®£Ň¾♠

i'm obviously going nuts =( oh well... new lappy after the exams... zap one off my family members for now :D whoohoo- what fun!

Sing Siam 2009

yeah okay, i had a most eventful weekend at the sing siam regatta... my race results went something to the tune of 1, 9, 5, 2, 7, 2. the race course was a trapezoid course with an outer loop. I've got to admit, God really helped me... I really wouldn't have been able to finish in 3rd without him. I even saw a pair of indo pacific humpback dolphins on my way out to the race course. they were a pinkish greyish colour. i only saw the humpback, i didn't see the head or the tail.


Day 1,
Race 1: The wind was light, about 3-4 knots at the very most. i had a fair start, and was up in the top 5 having caught 2 major windshifts and was trailing in second by about 6 boat lengths once i went round the windward mark onto the reaching leg. i kept on chipping away at the lead that the Prasert had... behind me, Manat (ex thai national champion) was closing in on me... i kept my cool and made a concieted effort to close in on the leader, Prasert, and close in i did, as a result, Manas didn't manage to close the gap and overtake me... Prasert had a poor rounding at the bottom mark, allowing me to capitalize, coming into the mark wide and exiting as tight as i possibly could, putting me above the leader. However his boat speed was superior and he managed to hang onto his lead. I finally muscled my way into first about 6 boatlengths from the windward buoy but got tricked and the first leader slid cleanly around the mark before i could react. I took a gamble. i bore away and sailed into the current while the race leader went for speed and was heading down with the current. i sailed downwind in what little breeze there was and tried to keep clean air, i finally pulled up to Prasert about 8 boat lengths from the buoy. Being the inside boat, I was able to force my opponent wide, allowing me room to round the mark and head to the finish, while blocking his wind so i would not be overtaken. I won by about a boatlength. What a way to start the regatta! first international event in the laser, in my own boat, with a win!


Race 2: the wind picked up to about 12 knots and there was no way i could keep the boat flat and lost out a lot of positions on the up wind legs due to poor boat speed. i did what i could to maintain and catch up on the off wind but it was not to be. Manat won...



Race 3: i THOUGHT this was the ultimate comeback in fairly strong wind of about 10 knots... God was definately behind this one... i had a bad start, getting buried and rounding mark 1 in 11th, i managed to save 6 places in the second upwind leg to finish in a comfortable 6th. Manat won...



race 4: third time lucky? maybe for me it was... the wind had died down to about 4-6 knots, i had a very clean start and was out and clear from the fleet. i managed to block and hang onto my lead all the way to the top mark. i tried hard to close in on Manat... but i just couldnt... i finished day 1 sitting in second place. Manat was first... with three points having discarded his 3rd which was issued by myself and another thai sailor =). He sure is consistent!



Day 2, we had a late start because there was a cat1 which finished at 1:15. we FINALLY launched our boats at about 1.20-1.30pm. I knew these would be the make or break races, i got on the water focused on the conditions at hand, which looked to be really strong wind, about 12 to 15 knots, knowing i may finish not standing on the podium.



Race 5: the gun went when the wind was howling... i had an excellent start but again could not hang into my positions and dropped many on the first beat... i slid across the finish in 7th, feeling very dejected as the darkness of 4th position enveloped me... Thanks Andrew for the pep talk =) really needed it at that point in time... sorry Zeng... what i said was really harsh..! sorry dude... guess what... Manat won again...



Race 6: the wind was still flexing its muscles as i was dispairing... i got off to a good start but made a tactical error as well as being unable to find the speed i needed so badly to get clear. by the time i got to the top mark, I was lying in 12th but managed to cash in on someone's mistake of hitting the windward mark while going round and i hopped into 11th. The darkness of not getting that shiny little cup dawned on me. i honestly felt like it was all over but somehow wanted to keep trying... the wind died... what luck! Soon Chung and i rounded the leeward mark and began our second beat in about 2-3 knots of wind. i remembered what Andrew told me before the race started and i kept my centreboard as far down as possible by sitting on it. i headed for shore to make use of whatever wind there was and to minimize the effects of the strong current on my boatspeed. the rest of the fleet had headed towards the middle of the course and into deeper water with stronger current. I tried so hard to catch Manat, something told me not to give up, to keep going, to persevere... the results you may ask? I managed to put Manat within striking distance a few times but was unable to wrestle 1st place from him as he after all, was the ex Thai National Champion, who obviously had quite a few defensive moves up his sleeve. His estimation and boat speed were excellent and by the time i got to the windward mark, he was about 1/4 way down towards the bottom mark and the finishing mark. Soon Chung who was trying to catch me all the way to the windward mark rounded shortly after i did and the chase was on! we were unsucessful catching Manat, but we had each gained something to the tune of 9 places. putting us from an 11-12 finish to a 2-3 finish! God was kind and gracious to give me the 9 places i needed badly. I was worried that i'd lost my position after i crossed the finish line but looking behind me, Prasert had not even reached the windward mark and my heart skipped a beat, what if he gained some positions and finished 3rd? he did beat me in my previous race and i was leading by a mere 3 points... I stopped worrying having realised there was nothing I could do having already finished the race with a good position.

Back to shore we sailed, really, really slowly... i shook hands with Manat and Prasert, congratulated them on their good sailing, and we chatted about the races we'd gone through. Having high fived Andrew, we did a quick countback and he'd beaten me to second place by a single point, scoring 16 points to my 17. I was fine with that but i felt a small part of me tug my heart and say could you have squeezed another position out of any of the other races? I thought about it and I concluded the answer was No. It would have been difficult, if not impossible. Personally i was wondered if we would both medal this time. However i know for a fact God was there with me through the thick and thin, and rollercoaster of feelings. Zeng was very upset having dropped from 1st to 6th in the last race which according to him cost him a medal, i'm not very sure about that because like me, he had had an inconsistent series of races on day 1. I went to check the results after hosing my boat down and allowing the sail to dry. When i saw the results, i was blown away! BOTH ANDREW AND I HAD MEDALED IN THE SING SIAM REGATTA 2009!!! DESIPTE OUR SHORTCOMINGS, WE BOTH WERE GOING TO RECIEVE MEDALS! SHEER PLEASURE!

2ND ANDREW LEE TIAN SEONG !
3RD TAN AN REN 3rd!

WOW!!! all i could do was scream "YES YESS YESSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and high five Drew, who then proceeded to look at the results, copy my reaction by screaming "YESSSSSSSS" and do his "victory dance" which got me laughing real hard! We both had sailed hard during the regatta and God allowed us the priviledge to be up there. only 2nd to the ex national champion... what a feeling! Zeng who was out in the boat yard apparently was able to hear the screams of jubilation...

During the Prize presentation, i picked up my prize for finishing 3rd in the laser standard class, and as i was walking out of the room, my name was called because unknowingly i had won the 3rd prize in the laser open class. Talk about having a double portion. Having 2 prizes on my first medal occation of an event above club level... this was beyond my wildest dreams and i know who i can attribute it to... I am thankful. i really really am =) I thank my parents, coaches and friends for believing in me, for always pushing me on and giving me opportunities. Celebrations after the exams anyone? =P i know who i'll be eating Cake with... =) on reflection, this regatta has shown me what i am good at, what needs a lot of work, which boat i should be sailing and last but not least, to never ever give up hope, to keep your wits about you and to do what you think is the correct thing, and not to follow the crowd.

Special thanks goes out to the following people (in NO order of importance)
Alicia for snapping a photo of me at the prize presentation- it was good to see you again!
Uncle Tony for coaching me all these years and pushing me hard so i'd learn fast in the laser
Ramli for all those hours at the gym and helping me get fitter even tho some days were awful and some were good sessions!
Valencia, Ananda and Zing (Zeng) for pushing me in training and keeping my head level and small
Jeryl Ong for encouragement and good humour at training!
Andrew Lee for encouragement, pushing me hard and cheering in race 1 at mark 1... haha... and helping me take my mast down and folding my sail on both saturday and sunday
The uncles at one stop who helped us launch and recover boats, especially the uncle who helped me pull up my boat on sunday when i couldnt do it by myself


Till we meet again, my friends... take care and keep safe =)

ah... it's less than a week to my last Race till i take a break for the exams... Exams aren't far away either, they start in early may (7th) and end on the 19th... I'm still revising... i think i'll do OK, its make or break time now. All i can say is that, till then, its nose to the grindstone and when all is said and done, its time to enjoy. Hopping back into the laser radial would be high on the priority list, hopefully the wind will be nice and strong. its such a wonderfully easy boat to sail, sailing it quickly is something else.

The 2009 Sing Siam regatta is this weekend. i haven't read the sailing instructions but i suspect it will be a trapezoid course with an outer loop. i'm hoping there will be either less than 10 knots of wind if i am sailing the standard rig laser, or about 12 knots or more if i'm in the radial. The last time i sailed in this regatta was 2 years ago and i wouldn't say that my results were anything to shout about. Then again my race results aren't ever a talking point. i am however looking forward to racing against Ananda and Zeng... if i was in their position, i'd be thinking of this race as practice for nationals which are at the end of the month. i do wish them all the best! nationals does carry many fond memories and some very spectacular racing. it is "the regatta" of the year for many schools. there will be various new teams such as CJC and YJC, RJC has even purchased new boats! I cant help but wonder how ACS (I) will perform. All the teams this year are strong.

which colour!

i'm getting a new fishing rod... the options are as follows, red binding with yellow trim, yellow binding with blue trim (against this i have a rod with blue binding and yellow trim), grey with a yellow trim and finally orange with a blue trim... the picture red binding with yellow trim is on the way... well of course the last option is to have black binding with a silver trim =) of course if you dont like any of the following colours, suggest one as a comment or tag :p haha... enjoy!

well... since lately i've been talking about sailing loads and did go sailing saturday, where there was a huge storm and we tied our boats to a buoy and were driven back to shore really quick via power boat as lighning flashed all over gloom that shrouded us... anyway we hung out at NSC for about 30-45 minutes before Clayton, Coach Hu and I zoomed back out to sea to drop C and I off to untangle our boats which were being tossed around like corks in a blender by the big waves and the storm. the lightning had stopped but there was an odd flash or 2 every once in a long while... we finally untangled everything after some tense minutes, probably after 20 minutes to 1/2 an hour? and not to mention lots of yelling, and bobbing up and down... we finally were towed to SAFYC Changi and arrived at about 1930... on the way back i was treated to a beautiful rainbow and an equally beautiful sunset! through the remaining clouds too! it was very cold and as we pulled into the dock i was shivering, and extremely late for dinner with my extended family... However, i cleaned up really quickly and Amanda Tang's dad very graciously gave me and my sailing gear a ride to Thompson plaza. thank you so so much =)





here's an entry about all the sailing coaches i've ever had...





i started sailing when i was about... 9 or 10... so here we go... in chronological order when i first started, uncle Jacob taught us... for about 6 months before Francis Huang took over and he coached me till the end of the year... when i was 11, acs pri sailing was moved to NSC which was new at the time. Uncle Foo Say Juan and Hu Jiao Lian coached us... we won the championship that year and of course had trained very very hard in all sorts of wind conditions, we were also quite strong as a team... it consisted of myself, Lei Fengyi, Jackson Ho, Russell Koh, Gabriel Koh, and i think that's all...



I moved to SAFYC, sembawang and Uncle BaBa coached me, i remember countless pushups, mast rake adjustment, and many subtle details and my world of optimist racing was opened up! Sadly, i was never a particularly strong sailor in the optimist, however i remember having a magical day of racing on the second day of racing at the interschool when i was going to turn 12.





in secondary one... i hopped into the topper quite gladly (OH YES! finally i could sail a BIGGER boat), and i sailed under Andrew Tam at SAFYC Sembawang, with the naval base secondary school as well as CHJI (Toa Payoh) and a few other sailors from all over. Changi wasn't in existence at the time... that went for secondary one... and two.... somewhere along the line i switched into the byte which was a welcome change. I simply just HAD TO TRY ONE, there was this longing feeling to get into one, especially after hearing so much about it, and being quite envious of my brother as Dad bought him one... which is now being sailed by my friend, Isaac Foo... i sailed the byte until i was secondary 4 at ACS (Int) and got quite good at it, the most spectacular race i ever had was when i was in 11th and racing towards the finishing line on the reach when a freak storm hit, capsizing many other boats in front of me and i managed to slide across the line in 3rd... i did win a few prizes at the in house race... as well as hopping into the byte, i also started training under Uncle Tony at the weekend. He was very strict about sitting position, tactics and boatspeed which to my mind are fundamental to winning. One cannot have good boatspeed without good sitting position, which controls boat balance, and without boatspeed one cannot execute tactical plans. anyway, that's how i started working hard at my off wind because i was way too light in upper secondary to be compeititve going up wind.



in Pre U, again, i switched boat to the laser... initially i hopped into the laser radial and it was really difficult, especially because the north east monsoon was throwing its weight around with strong winds. i somehow managed not to finish last in my first 3 regattas... in fact i beat a few people! however this made me decide to bulk up and gain some weight, so i gained about 12kg putting me under the optimum weight but it would have to suffice for nationals, where my best race was 9th (2007 nationals) and last year, my best race was 4th... i started at the commitee boat, threw a tack shortly after crossing the start line, tacked back to catch a lift and i was way in front with the other 2 who were leading... that was really cool! it probably matches my best national regatta position that i had in the byte. Admittedly, i'm having a whole lot more fun in the laser than i ever dreamed of having. =) well not to mention i've had a really good coachs since i started sailing, who'd push me, tell me what im doing wrong and get me to try new stuff to help me improve my sailing, and of course encourage me so that i wouldnt give up... mind you, i nearly walked away from sailing more than once... but i stuck with it and persevered...

i sailed yesterday... i sailed, inconsistently, i think the change in season has brought up what i had not realised previously, that i'm not quick in light air, and i question my own tactics too much. i question why, but get no answers, perhaps i lack confidence? perhaps i am a child, set in front of a sheet of paper with numbered dots to form a picture, i just dont seem to be joining the dots with the pencil that i'm holding, or, im joining the dots in the wrong order. fancy thinking of tactics coming downwind but doing the exact opposite having rounded the bottom mark. Valencia was in top form and is really quick in the light air, i on the other hand have been sailing in heavy air. well at least im on the water on saturday so i can work on speed and other things that need work such as boat handling... on the bright side, MJC has new sailors so hopefully i get pushed more so i will be able to improve. Wen's agreed to come sailing on saturday so that will be quite fun i hope... ahh... light wind work has to be done, as well as loosing weight in preparation for the sing siam regatta, i doubt the wind will be strong like in previous years, then again it was light wind at last regatta in Singapore. Just dont capsize (: i wonder who else from the squad will be racing a radial...

thinking back, the first SSR i raced a laser in, was when i was fresh out of the byte. sailing's fun even though its frustrating at times =) note to self: get a Ronstan ballbearing microblock for the outhaul and a new, thinner and longer outhaul line... Gym tmr and running on tuesday... im determined to loose whatever excess fat i have! haha... fat = dead weight, muscle = power & works for you...

May exams are coming... i think i'm going to be ready, i've started studying, i am still studying and learning, its quite stressful thinking about exams... if only we had more hours in the day. on the bright side, i've started using my diary and my time management has improved i think (: exams exams exams... well, its part and parcel of school and i like school... haha... cant wait for the weekend, im going sailing (:

a random thought about love...

Valentine's has just gone by a few days ago and i've been thinking lately, especially since i found, opened and read the card that someone gave to me for Valentine's 08. This card is special, the tone is was one of warmth and love, which now probably doesn't exist anymore, even then i can still remember that the same voice, name and face when i think about it, I've kept the card back in my drawer instead of throwing it out. However, complaining about lost friendships isn't the purpose of this post even though the hurt may still remain. Ironically, the song that's on my itunes playing is Tattoo by Jordin Sparks...

I concluded a few years back that love existed in many forms but the long short of it would be, loving someone is the choice to care and to set aside their inperfections and see the person for who they are on the sunny side of their personality. Breakups seem to be becoming quite common, furthermore, a family friend is probably going to get a divorce... Since the basis of love is caring about someone, in all friendly relationships there is love, from friendships, to husbands and wives, to immediate and extended families, to the point that the beloved my be even "spoilt". but that really is something else. it is because of "love" that someone can hurt you. This sounds strange but even in hate, there is still love. simply because one feels angered by another party's actions, furthermore, you still care about them, perhaps more than when you loved them, so their actions can hurt you, quite badly. I am reminded of this when someone i know "freaked out" when he heard his ex girlfriend had gotten with someone new. When a person is indifferent, this is when all love, and care has evaporated, therefore, whatever happens to the other party, or whatever he or she does, does not affect you anymore.

Once the point of indifference has been reached, reconciliating the relationship will be most difficult, if not impossible. my thought to this would be, cherish loved ones while they are still around, be it friends or family because one never knows if tomorrow the relationship will turn sour. Unlike milk, friendships do not have a an expiry date printed at the top of the carton or at the base of the bottle. However, i do wish that friendships would last forever, and believe that they can. Love while you can because you "can't" when they're physically gone. Can't meaning they aren't there for you to love.

To finish i will quote a primary school friend... With love comes hurt, if there was no love, there is no hurt; they come together, hand in hand.

being critical...

well, at the start of this month i won the in house race for the 2nd time in straight races... this time i cut it a lot closer than the last time but the conditions were very different... anyway... i trained yesterday and admittedly, i sailed horribly, it seemed to me that my boat was sort of stalling and felt underpowered yet i was still fighting to keep it flat while beating up to the first mark, yes there were waves and i tried to manage them but its been a while since i've sailed with such used to such steep waves on the course. It almost seemed impossible, furthermore the boat didn't seem to have that flow over the waves which other sailors have. I was sailing a radial and the wind wasn't terribly strong, maybe up to 12 knots towards the end of the day? perhaps i wasn't keying in on my sail settings quickly because i had just swapped all my lines end for end so that they wear out evenly.

I need serious help with my mark rounding technique and upwind sailing in choppy water, with strong current and medium wind. i want to feel the boat flowing or at least feel that I'm sailing quickly up wind... i think I'm so critical about my mark rounding especially at the leeward mark having watched some videos of Olympic sailors and watched some of the top sailors in Singapore sheeting in non stop as if its really easy, i know its going to be hard work, and countless sets of concentration curls but I'm ready for it, i think... and if there's a will, there's a way. well, at least I've got targets and having not sailed in choppy conditions, i conclude I'm out of rhythm... i think more reading and water time will help. anyway, Uncle Tony's been pushing me in the right directions and teaching me to protect my position after coming round the leeward mark while leading... i wonder why he's been doing this... its not as if I'm always first round the buoys... oh well... I'll just keep training... ah, routine's going to be studying, gym, church and sailing... I'm looking forward to the sailing season proper (:

to end on a super happy note, besides swapping all my lines end for end, I've got myself a new main sheet... its ORANGE... and white... haha! its 7mm and measures 15 meters long, this gives me lots of line to play about with when i'm going off-wind, allows me to attach the tail to the end of the toestrap so it doesnt tangle, runs through the blocks really nicely and is extremely light so the sail is able to move out quickly. however, there's only 1 downside, its not the most abrasion resistant line in the world, after sailing yesterday the bit hairy at the parts which experience the most abrasion on the ratchet block and at the tail end at the end boom block. but still, its a lovely piece of work... anyway, happy sailing !

sailing...

i've got a shirt from global culture... it says "sailing; Obsession; the act of getting really cold, really wet, going nowhere really fast and spending really large amounts of money" i do agree with the above especially since its the time of the year that i'm checking my boat. I've found i need a new universal joint on my acme fatso jr tiller, and probably a new 7mm mainsheet because this season, the 6mm has been making mincemeat out of my fingers and causing quite a lot of discomfort while sailing up wind in heavy air... well... i guess these are things that have to be done... but i'm happy, i'm sailing well this year, and am not doing too badly... (i just won the febuary in house race laser open class last weekend- haha) i'm looking forward to the weekend because i'm going sailing again... anyway a note from myself to myself: GET A NEW UNIVERSAL JOINT AND THE FUDGING MAINSHEET (14.5m)!

the card's still there and dad admired it the other day... well you probably know it but i enjoyed seeing you at CNY (: and no, i dont have a crush on you... haha!

since i havent posted a fish in a long time... this one's an Earth eater... caught on the last trip before the IB exams in i think it was september of 2007.

i missed you so much so i put the card you sent me on my desk so that everytime i looked at it, i'd think of you and see an image of you in my mind that was as fresh as the dew on the grass this morning when i woke up and stepped out into the cool, fresh air... =)